Gah! I just broke into a cold sweat. I was in Vietnam a few months ago, my first trip to Asia, and one of the first things I did was cross that very intersection to get to beautiful Hoan Kiem lake which is right across from it. After much panic I succeeded by observing how locals did it and essentially following them until I reached the other side safely. There really is a chaotic order on Vietnamese roads... vehicles rule the road and the beep of your horn is the cue for other people to get out of the way. It seems to work intuitively for them. That said I did see quite a few accident scenes with motorbikes.

I first read about this story a day earlier on PEREZ HILTON!
http://perezhilton.com/?p=8364
what is going on?